UFC 298 Preview
The UFC will be invading the Honda Center in Anaheim, California on Saturday, February 17 for UFC 298. The main event will be for the featherweight title between champion Alexander Volkanovski vs. #3 Ilia Topuria.
Volkanovksi will be trying to rebound from a bad loss where he challenged Islam Makhachev for the lighweight title for the second time. In the first fight which took place at UFC 284 Makhachev won the fight by unanimous decision, while many fans argued the decision should have gone to Volkanovski. Makhachev was scheduled to fight Charles Oliveira at UFC 294, but after Oliveira had to withdraw from the fight due to injury, Volkanovski stepped in on 10 days’ notice. The result was devastating for the featherweight champion as he lost by a brutal KO in the first round due to a head kick.
The champion is 13-2 in the UFC and before fighting Makhachev was widely considered the greatest pound for pound fighter in the world. He has defended the featherweight championship five times and has defeated all contenders in the division, including two wins over all-time great Max Holloway. He now faces Topuria who is slated to represent new blood in the division.
Volkanovski wants to make a statement on Saturday. "What's getting me excited is showing Ilia. I want him to understand and feel 'wow, he was levels ahead'," Volkanovski said.
"Believe it or not, I don't want a first-round finish. I want him to feel like he never stood a chance, and then I'll take him out."
The Australian fighter talked about rebounding from such a bad loss in his last fight. "I'm in a much better position because a lot of people are in the same position and feel uneasy but probably don't even know why. I know why," Volkanovski said.
"A lot of other fighters suffer a lot more than what you saw in me - it was just the timing of it.
"But I'm glad people got to see that because it was more awareness for other people."
The 35-year-old still believes he has something to prove. "I love when people doubt me. I'm not the underdog but I feel like I've always had an underdog mentality," said Volkanovski.
"I don't think it's just the doubters; it is bouncing back from that fight and showing Ilia, 'Hey, I don't care about your last 14 fights - that don't work with me'."
Aside from Holloway, Volkanovski has wins over Yair Rodriguez, Chan Sung Jung, Brian Ortega, Jose Also and Chad Mendes. Should he win on Saturday, what is next? Is it a move back to lightweight or does he take on more new blood in the featherweight division?
Topuria is undefeated and is coming off an impressive unanimous decision victory over long-time contender Josh Emmett in June. The 27-year-old is 6-0 in the UFC and now faces the toughest challenge of his career under the brightest lights. Is he ready?
“[It will be one of my easier fights] at the moment he is right now,” Topuria said. “Because he lost his last fight. He talked about his mental problems. I feel like he is not at his 100% right now. And me myself too, I feel I am way better than him anywhere, so…”
Topuria believes he has all the tools to defeat Volkanovski. “The strategy I bring to the fight, he won’t be able to solve it,” Topuria said. “A lot of fighters are punching hard, grappling hard, all that type of stuff, but no one has a strategy. No one comes in with the strategy that I have. That’s what separates me from rest of the fighters... I'm going to create opportunities. Of course, I'm going to wait for the right moment to create those opportunities, but I’m going to open spaces that I will be able to take advantage of.”
While he is confident, Topuria respects Volkanovski. “Oh yeah, he’s going to stay in the featherweight book for a while, that’s for sure,” Topuria said. “He will be remembered as one of the greatest in the featherweight division. He was a great champion.”
The Spanish fighter is known for his brash ego, so he was not shy about making a bold prediction. “I see myself knocking him out in the first round.” If Topuria wins it would for the time being represent a new era in the featherweight division. Would Volkanovski get an immediate rematch, or do we see another new title challenger?
The Rest of the Main Card:
Middleweight - #3 Robert Whittaker vs. #6 Paulo Costa
Welterweight - #8 Geoff Neal vs. #10 Ian Machado Gary
Bantamweight - #2 Merab Dvalishvili vs. #3 Henry Cejudo
Middleweight - #15 Anthony Hernandez vs. Roman Kopylov
ESPN + Prelims:
#3 Amanda Lemos vs. #7 Mackenzie Dern - women’s strawweight
#15 Marcos Rogerio de Lima vs. Justin Tafa - heavyweight
Rinya Nakamura vs. Carlos Vera - bantamweight
Mingyang Zhang vs. Brendson Ribeiro - light heavyweight
Early Prelims:
Josh Quinlan vs. Danny Barlow - welterweight
Oban Elliott vs. Val Woodburn - welterweight
Andrea Lee vs. Miranda Maverick - women’s flyweight
